Care for the caregivers

Rain did not dampen the spirits of hospital workers in Clarkston and Lewiston on Thursday during a noon parade in honor of the staffs at Tri-State Memorial Hospital and St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.

In light of it being National Hospital Week, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of a parade of police, fire and EMS vehicles and other cars showing their appreciation for health care workers was hatched. It was coordinated by Tri-State Chief Development Officer D’Lynn Ottmar and St. Joe’s spokeswoman Samantha Skinner.

“We just wanted to do something special,” Ottmar said. “We wanted to make sure we show our caregivers how much we care. They’re saving lives every single day and it makes a difference to all of us.”

Ottmar said her heart has been warmed by all of the support from the community during the pandemic. The Red Lion has offered rooms for health care workers who could not go home because of the risk to their families. Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories has donated needed items before the hospital can ask, Ottmar said. Clearwater Paper has donated toilet paper. Members of the community have been making masks and giving them to the hospital. Churches and members of the community have been donating food.

“The generosity, how everybody is coming together to pitch in and do what they can, that’s what’s inspiring, that’s what speaks volumes about how our community thrives,” Ottmar said.

“We need to show more appreciation, because sometimes they have bad days. I hope (the parade) moves our workers.”

The parade first traveled past hospital staff at Tri-State. The parade included scores of cars decked out with signs and horns honking and people shouting thank you to hospital workers, all while first responders fired up sirens and lights. The parade then traveled across the Snake River via the Southway Bridge, north on Snake River Avenue before making its way to Sixth Street in Lewiston for a pass by St. Joe’s.

“It brought a tear to your eye just to see this community come out,” St. Joe’s Emergency Services Director Heather Alfred said. “I don’t know that we’ll ever see anything or experience anything like this again. It was neat to be able to be a part of it.”

The gesture of the parade was appreciated, but the community’s support has helped health care workers do their duty and thrive during the pandemic.

“It’s been very inspiring to my staff, we just appreciate it so much,” Alfred said. “We’re kind of taken aback by it as well, you know that people feel so strongly and we just really appreciate it.

“We are fortunate enough that we have all the PPE that we need,” Alfred said. “We wear it for every single patient that we care for because we don’t know what’s walking through the door, so we are always on the ready for whatever may come.”

The hospital has a PPE team that makes sure health care staff have what they need and they watch to make sure staff is protected, Alfred said.

Tri-State Communications Director Rebecca Mann believes the staff at her hospital is “coming out of this stronger and working together.”

“Everyone here is here to help the community,” Mann said.

“This hospital week, we would like to thank all of the individuals — providers, food service workers, volunteers, administrators and so many more — for being committed to the health and well-being of our great community,” Tri-State CEO Don Wee said. “We are honored that the community is coming together to show their support through COVID-19.”

New case reported in Whitman County

There was one new COVID-19 case confirmed in Whitman County on Thursday. The patient is a woman between the ages of 20-39 and she is stable and isolating at home, a Whitman County news release said.

Close contacts have been notified and are being tested. The Washington State Secretary of Health has been notified. It’s Whitman County’s first confirmed case in three weeks.

“This case is not expected to have an impact on the Whitman County Phase 2 waiver request,” the news release said, referring to the request made by the county commission Wednesday.

The new case brings the total confirmed COVID-19 cases to 17 in the county.

There were no new cases or deaths reported by Public Health – Idaho North Central District on Thursday. The district covers Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce counties.

Nimiipuu Health also did not have any new cases or deaths, nor did Garfield and Asotin counties in Washington.

Asotin County Public Transportation to receive grant

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Asotin County Public Transportation an $889,362 grant that will be used to assist operations and its on-demand paratransit service, Dial-a-Ride, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CARES Act authorized $25 billion in grant funding for the nation’s public transportation systems.

AAA will not issue Memorial Day travel projection

For the first time in 20 years, AAA will not issue a Memorial Day travel projection as the accuracy of the data used to create the forecast has been undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anecdotal reports suggest far fewer people are expected to travel this Memorial Day weekend than in recent years. This year could see the lowest Memorial Day travel volume since AAA began making projections 20 years ago.

During the 2009 Memorial Day travel weekend, only 31 million Americans made a holiday getaway as many Americans were feeling the effects of the Great Recession. Last year, 43 million Americans hit the road for the holiday, which was the second-highest amount on record, according to AAA.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 173 million Americans informed AAA they planned to travel this summer. Online travel bookings have been rising slowly since mid-April, AAA-Idaho spokesman Matthew Conde said.

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.